Reading, listening to, and questioning America... from the southern Great Plains

Small, cheap, and watching every move you make

State legislators across the US are reconsidering the use of drones. Not drones overseas but drones at home.

Drones
are becoming a darling of law enforcement authorities across the
country. But they have given rise to fears of government surveillance,
in many cases even before they take to the skies. And that has prompted
local and state lawmakers from Seattle to Tallahassee to proscribe how
they can be used by police or to ground them altogether. ...

...“To me, it’s Big Brother in the sky,” said Dave Norris, a city
councilman in Charlottesville, Va., which this month became the first
city in the country to restrict the use of drones. “I don’t mean to
sound conspiratorial about it, but these drones are coming, and we need
to put some safeguards in place so they are not abused.” ...NYT

Of course, the "defense" - in this case the drone -- industry is pressuring Washington to use them, um, liberally.

The F.A.A. is drafting rules on how drone licenses will be issued. On
Thursday, it announced the creation of six sites around the country
where drones of various sorts can be tested. Pressed by advocacy groups, it said it would invite public comment on privacy protections in those sites.

The agency estimates that the worldwide drone market could grow to $90 billion in the next decade. ...NYT